Flamethrowers???

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Blain

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Just been watching "Aliens" and I can't help but keep thinking how cool it would be to have a real live functioning flame thrower!

The flamethrower is the ultimate Close quaters combat weapon. However, what is the legality of this weapon? Is it legal to own one on any type of weapons license? If so, which one? If not, why? I don't see laws that specifically forbid such a device.


If it were legal, how much would it cost to buy one? What types of models are available? How far can they shoot their flames, and how long can they fire before refueling?

They shoot napalm, right?
 
I think that the ATFE classifies them as DD (destructive devices) so yes it is possible to have them (don't forest firefighters use them to start backfires?). As an average Joe Shmoe though it is much easier to get a can of hair spray and a Bic lighter ;) .

Greg
 
I don't know if they fall into the category of "firearm" but they sure would make a hit at the company barbque. ;)

Seriously, if you had a real flamethrower, I don't know where you would get the fuel. Trying to make the stuff could be dangerous.

Rafter-S
 
Flame Throwers are not considered firearms, destructive devices nor are they regulated by ATF or the Federal Government. If you can find one, be sure to wear your asbestos underwear.
 
Fuel is quite easy to make, all you need is sme gasoline and some white powdered detergent like "Tide". Mix together, and vuala!
 
Totally unregulated in most places and one of the scariest things you can strap on your back and set fire to!!!!
I understand they used to use them in West Texas to burn the spines off cactus so cattle could eat the pads.
 
"Fuel is quite easy to make, all you need is sme gasoline and some white powdered detergent like "Tide". Mix together, and vuala!"

This may be fundamentally true...or it may not. In either case, I highly recommend not to play with gasoline. I have spent a lot of time in a burn unit of a major hospital and I can't start to describe to you how many people are in there because of gasoline accidents. Igniting gasoline has to be one of the most dangerous, not to mention, outright foolish, things one could do. DON'T DO IT.
 
Napalm is not so simple as adding detergent to gasoline. Napalm is jellied gasoline and naptha with a sticking catalyst, hence its sticking properties. The "Na" in napalm comes from naptha, yes, common lighter fluid, which is an ingredient. In some versions, palm oil was used instead of soap. Palm oil is a component in many soaps. Hence the "palm" in napalm. In you make ever so slightest the mistake with napalm and get it on your skin when it's burning, you may consider yourself screwed. Napalm is not something to play with; it's sticking properties are like you will not believe.

Flamethrowers are no longer used by the U.S. military for good reason. Those things are sniper magnets and present a danger to all around it. Seen that scene in "Saving Private Ryan" where the guy with the flamthrowers gets hit by machine gun fire and catches fire then blows up and takes out a couple other guys? That's based on a real incident at D-Day; it's mentioned in several books.
 
Yes "pear burners" are used in texas to burn the spines off of prickly pear cactus so cattle can eat them. A great uncle of mine had one a while back. He also used it to burn out nests of rattle snakes that he found. I think they are more on the lines of a gaint gasoline torch than flame thrower however. I never got to see him use it unfortunately.
 
"...vuala!..." What? You mean 'voila?'
Flame throwers were more dangerous to the user than the bad guys. Never mind the one shot in the tank and whoosh. Crispy critter. It's the same idea as using lighter fluid to perk up the BBQ. The fire can back up the stream on fuel and the can goes whoosh in your hand. The fire squirter things used by forester aren't the same.
 
Flame throwers were more dangerous to the user than the bad guys.
Click to expand...

:confused:

There are a lot of dead people in the battlefields if Europe, Africa and Asia who would argue against this statement. WWI onwards.

Fire has always been an effective morale-breaker. Whatever the fanatacism against dying thru gushot wounds, burning to death has a more fearful effect in the mind of any combatant.
 
Fire has always been an effective morale-breaker. Whatever the fanatacism against dying thru gushot wounds, burning to death has a more fearful effect in the mind of any combatant.
Click to expand...

That is because few people have been shot, but everyone has touched something hot and been burned at some point in their life. People remember the amount of pain that caused, so it's easy to imagine the horror of being totally consumed in fire.

Edited: Bad spelling strikes again.
 
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Sunray was correct. Again, the reason why the military no longer uses these is the danger to troops using it. There is a caveat to the use of fire as a weapon and that is the fact that fire knows not friends from foes. It can destroy the wielder as well as the target.
 
I actually fired a flame thrower in training once. We were told everybody on both sides shoots at a flame thrower. Mostly they were used after battles to clean out stubborn people in fortifications. Flame throwers were replaced by incendiary rockets which have since been discarded. M202A1 four round launcher.

The Old West German Army had a "Patronnen Flambe" or flame cartridge. It was a metal tube filled with incendiary compound. The user pulled off the protective wrappings, pulled a pin, folded down a grip at the back, pointed it at a target 25 meters away, and pulled the trigger.

Geoff
Who found out shooting fire is an incredible experience, but I wouldn't want the nightmares that go with it.
 
Those who want flamethrowers: Be sure and visit the burn ward of your nearest major hospital before you buy one and see if it still tickles your fancy after that. You can't even get training in the military on this obsolete POS, so where are you going to find proper training on the civilian world? Training, you know, to avoid becoming a victim of your own weapon through an accident. But, I am sure "it won't happen to me" safety logic prevails...:rolleyes:
 
Sir Galahad: I'm sure training manuals are still available, also I know that the Forestry service has a use for them, and they do train their employees (those assigned with the thing) with their use. Therefore, the training probably IS still available.
 
There are books on how to do surgery, also. You think you can remove your own appendix using a book?:rolleyes: Further along, I see forest service crews here every day. I doubt you are going to join them just to learn how to use a flamethrower. The other work that precedes it is real, back-breaking work clearing brush, cutting trees, and so forth. Further most, if not all, of the "flamethrowers" they use are not WW2 types They're actually large oil cans like the cans they used to use to oil steam locomotives (I don't expect you've seen either one) and it has a pilot flame and drips burning fuel on the ground. I'm also sure playing with fire will be received real well in areas stricken by drought with tinderbox-dry forests and brushy hills. In this area, it's a good way to incite a lynch mob. Stick to firearms.
 
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